AudienceKey Concepts in Media Studies
Who are the audience?
Who is the spectator?
Who controls the audience?
Who has the power?
Is the message a drug?
The media injects the audience
Hypodermic Theory
Nazi propaganda in the 1930s and 1940s…
The media controls the message and influences the audience
The audience is weak and vulnerable, easily led, drugged, dumb, and duped.
The audience must be protected from the power of the media.
Can you see any problems with the hypodermic model?
Does this model view the media in positive, negative, or neutral terms?
What view of the audience is promoted by this model?
What do you think?
Uses and Gratifications Theory
Meaning isn’t fixed and determined
Meaning can be negotiated or encoded/decoded
What THEY think it means and what YOU
decide it means
But who are THEY? And who are YOU?
How do YOU use the media?
How do YOU use the media?
• Education
How do YOU use the media?
• Education
• Escapism or stress release
How do YOU use the media?
• Education
• Escapism or stress release
• Information
How do YOU use the media?
• Education
• Escapism or stress release
• Information
• A means of self-identification
How do YOU use the media?
• Education
• Escapism or stress release
• Information
• A means of self-identification
• A way to belong to a group or society
How do YOU use the media?
• Education
• Escapism or stress release
• Information
• A means of self-identification
• A way to belong to a group or society
• Sexual stimulation
Is the actual audience the same as the
intended audience?
CULTS
Fragmented society…
Niche audiences
Life Magazine…
GENERAL INTEREST… is there any such category?
Family viewing
Fan fiction…Home movies…
Blogging…Podcasting…
YOU are the media AND the
audience(s)
DO IT YOURSELF
Review
• What are the two main theories of audience we discussed today?
• Write a sentence to characterise each one
• What are the main problems with each?
• How many different forms of DIY media can you think of?